Topic: Sony getting hit Hard lately

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

whoa, thanks!

[KDR_11k]

Sony declares itself gaming industry leader.

[BeautifulShy]

So Nintendo and Microsoft aren't competitors?I wonder what dimension Sony lives in.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I do enjoy Kaz's guarantee that the PS3 will be out for 10 years. 

[Chozo Ghost]

Sony declares itself gaming industry leader.

And in other news, a nerd has just declared himself the coolest kid at school. *yawn*

[Spak-Spang]

I really wish that the current consoles could last 10 years...but unfortunately they won't.

Microsoft is beginning to make money on the Xbox 360...which means it is about time to release a new product at the end of 2010. 

Nintendo is going to release some sort of Wii 2, which will just be an upgraded HD Wii with hardware equal to the Xbox 360 1.5 in 2010.

Finally, Sony will have to bear with the PS3 until 2011-12 just to make a profit after the years of losses.

[Flames_of_chaos]

Spak, part of the reason that Xbox 1 had a 4 year official life span was because nVidia ceased production of Xbox chipsets after a long price battle.

[NWR_Lindy]

I can see the PS3 having a 10-year life cycle.  Why not?  The PS2's life cycle is at 9 years.  It doesn't mean that they can't release the PS4 in two or three years.

[KDR_11k]

I don't see the PS3 having a 10 year lifespan because developers will abandon it the moment the PS4 is near release. Kinda like the Gamecube and original Xbox. The PS2 simply had a gigantic userbase and thus kept living on for longer but the PS3 is not in the same position.

As for the 2010 prediction, people should stop using two data points to extrapolate a line. MS wanted to launch ahead of Sony, they weren't just doing it because they wanted a 4 year cycle. Nintendo has no reason to release a new console, upgrading the graphics won't do jack for them because the graphics have overshot the consumer and introducing other steps would only make sense if there's a reason to believe that Sony and MS would actually make ground on the Wii's territory. Their last chance for that this generation was at E3 2008, they wasted it. Doesn't look like they're going to figure out how to do it either.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I can see the PS3 having a 10-year life cycle.  Why not?  The PS2's life cycle is at 9 years.  It doesn't mean that they can't release the PS4 in two or three years.

Because historically the last place system (heck even the second place system) are pretty much dropped in favor of the next generation of consoles. The PS2 was market leader by a TON with millions upon millions of systems sold, while the PS3 is struggling to even surpass Gamecube in total sales.

[NWR_Lindy]

The graphics have not overshot the consumer.  The price of the graphics has overshot the consumer.

I think the PS3 will be around for a while.  I think it has a lot of life in it.  Remember, Nintendo has established that graphics aren't as important, so theoretically the PS3's graphics capabilities should be fine for years in this new "blue ocean" world.

[KDR_11k]

Overshot means have reached the point where the consumer does not care about improvements anymore. If it was only the price that has overshot then the 360 would be taking the lead from the Wii now that it is cheaper.

[Pale]

I don't necessarily think the consumer doesn't care about the graphics anymore, they just care more about what the wii does.

I mean, if the 360 had all of the same motion tech and games like wii sports, then it would probably sell better than Wii.  That's an imaginary world though.

[KDR_11k]

Obviously if EVERYTHING else is equal graphics will be the tipping point but that's a completely hypothetical situation because it won't happen. There has never been a situation in the console market where two consoles had the same games and technology formed the tie breaker. The console market has ALWAYS been won or lost over the games library, not over secondary features.

[Chozo Ghost]

The PS3 *could* have a 10 year life-cycle. Even if it is in a distant 3rd place, Sony could still stubbornly support it and keep it going even if it makes little or no profit for them. That COULD happen. It probably wouldn't make much sense from a logical standpoint, but then again neither does selling hardware at a massive loss (which Sony and MS have both been doing since the beginning).

Anyone remember the Neo-Geo? It was a weird 24-bit system which was supposed to be like an arcade you could have in your living room, and the games often cost like $400 PER CARTRIDGE. Not many people had it, but that system was around FOREVER during the 1990s. It was a niche system, and I guess the few people who did actually buy it were able to keep the system alive. It was an extremely niche system, but its longevity was unparalled in its day.

The PS3 COULD survive as a niche system. Heck, Nintendo could have given the GC a 10 year life span and probably could have made a profit on it for another 5 years. But it wouldn't have made much sense, because when your system is unpopular it makes more sense to come out with something new and fresh. When Sony says the PS3 will have a 10 year life, they might not be lying, but that still doesn't necessarily mean the PS3 will ever rise above 3rd place.

[KDR_11k]

It takes more than just Sony's will to keep the console going, retailers have to be willing to keep stocking it and the games, game developers have to be willing to work on the platform (and when you're making a game for a technologically outdated console why not go for the Wii?) and of course customers have to care so the other two won't lose interest. While Sony could use massive moneyhats to force an unnatural situation like that I don't think they'd have enough to keep it up for long.

From what I understand the Neogeo was never intended to be sold to end users though, maybe rented for parties when a full arcade cabinet would be too heavy.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Following the release of NPD sales figures, Microsoft trumpeted its significant 53 percent year-over-year Xbox 360 sales boost -- and slammed primary competitor Sony.

The executive painted a particularly bleak picture of the PlayStation brand at retail, saying retail partners have characterized it as "hemorrhaging," in part because many existing PlayStation 2 owners are migrating to Xbox 360 rather than PlayStation 3.

"You can't underestimate that we're half the price of the PS3 at a time when consumers were looking for great value," he said. "The PS3 was down in February two percent even with the launch of Killzone 2 -- that's months of year-over-year declines. Xbox continues to head north while the PS3 is heading south. We're gaining share."

"But what we hear from our partners is that it's not just PS3, it's also PS2 down 62 percent year over year," he continued. "With that business declining, and with the PS3 business declining, it's been described to me as hemorrhaging at retail right now, and it just keeps getting worse.

"What we're finding in our research is that a large portion of the volume we're driving with Xbox 360 purchasers is actually PS2 owners choosing Xbox for the next generation. We're switching people from the PlayStation brand over to the Xbox brand."

source

I thought they were mostly heading over to the Wii, seeing where most of the hardware and software sales are going...

[oohhboy]

That entire statement is retarded. Of course most of them are coming from Playstation, it won last gen. Of course PS2 is fading, it's next gen.

The whole thing is the equivalent of taking credit for making the sun shine.

[KDR_11k]

I thought they were mostly heading over to the Wii, seeing where most of the hardware and software sales are going...

Doesn't contradict what they're saying, they are converting PS2 users, they didn't claim to be the biggest converter.

That entire statement is retarded. Of course most of them are coming from Playstation, it won last gen. Of course PS2 is fading, it's next gen.

The whole thing is the equivalent of taking credit for making the sun shine.

Well, it's not guaranteed, they could just as well have ended up with a subset of the XBox 1's userbase or maybe eaten the Gamecube's. Of course their growth most likely comes from PS2 owners. It also reveals something else: The core market is not growing.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Pac-Man eats the non-casuals.

The non-casuals are not growing.

Pac-Man SHITS casuals.

[BlackNMild2k1]

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2009/03/20/sony-now-charging-publishers-for-ps3-downloadable-content/

Until October 1 2008, video game publishers who wanted to offer downloadable content on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 didn’t have to worry about getting a bill from Microsoft and Sony.

The million-plus downloads that a popular demo or map pack might receive could delight gamers, but rack up some expensive bandwidth costs. No problem: the publishers, who already pay a licensing fee to get their games on the two big platforms, could count on the platform holders — Microsoft and Sony — to pay the cost of piping that digital content to gamers.

That situation changed with the PS3 on October 1 of last year, when Sony implemented a 16 cents per Gigabyte fee to publishers for paid and free downloadable content, according to publishing sources familiar with Sony’s policy.

Game publishers are not happy about it.

Sony needs to break even at all cost, so I guess hard times call for cold hard cash.
Anyone think his is gonna limit the amount of content on PSN especially if its more niche?

[BeautifulShy]

BNM I think that Sony is really struggling to make a profit; MS to a lesser extent.I think this will backfire on MS and Sony.Nintendo will benefit from this situation.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Pac-Man eats the non-casuals.

The non-casuals are not growing.

Pac-Man SHITS casuals.

Also it doesn't help that Pacman sucks as well (Oh no I dint!).

In regards to this issue, it goes to show you that all the crap Nintendo gets for doing weird and seemingly dumb things Sony nor MS are immune to stupid choices themselves.

[vudu]

Anyone think his is gonna limit the amount of content on PSN especially if its more niche?

I think it will more likely hurt demos for major games.  Most of these demos weight in at at least a Gig.  About a month ago it was reported that the Resident Evil 5 demo was downloaded 4 million times on the 360 and PS3.  If we assume half of those downloads occurred on the PS3, that's a bill for Capcom of $320,000.

A niche game will still likely get demos because A) there won't be nearly as many downloads and B) the demo will likely influence a sale more so than with a major game where the high sales are assumed.  I mean really--how many of those RE5 demos actually caused a sale?  Probably not many.  Most people who were going to buy the game knew they were going to buy it before they played the demo.

[BlackNMild2k1]

BNM I think that Sony is really struggling to make a profit; MS to a lesser extent.I think this will backfire on MS and Sony.Nintendo will benefit from this situation.

But MS doesn't charge the Publisher, they charge the consumer. $50 a year for LIVE right?
Nintendo doesn't really do demos and most of their downloads are pretty small as it is.
Maybe this will make those HD developers stop bloating all their code(since they have soo much space) and optimize a little better.

I think it will more likely hurt demos for major games.  Most of these demos weight in at at least a Gig.  About a month ago it was reported that the Resident Evil 5 demo was downloaded 4 million times on the 360 and PS3.  If we assume half of those downloads occurred on the PS3, that's a bill for Capcom of $320,000.

A niche game will still likely get demos because A) there won't be nearly as many downloads and B) the demo will likely influence a sale more so than with a major game where the high sales are assumed.  I mean really--how many of those RE5 demos actually caused a sale?  Probably not many.  Most people who were going to buy the game knew they were going to buy it before they played the demo.

Thats makes sense, I'm sure a smaller developer wouldn't mind as much if it got their unheard of game more recognition & more sasles.

I wonder how much demoes and DLC for something like GTAIV ended up costing R* & T2.